The Deepest Circle
by Affirmation26
Summary: Alec McFarlin has been trying to reorganize his team after a disastrous mission. With enemies at the gates and suspicion among his own team, Alec has to find the truth behind the lies.
1. The Eye of the Storm

The smoke billowed out of the third floor windows. The muggles called it a gas leak. Twelve dead, four injured. What they did not know was who the twelve dead were. Unknowns, forever the John and Jane Does in the morgue.

The fire was only a cover up. But the evidence was obvious to those who could sense the energies around the building. High level magic users were involved. Only two were innocence. The four injured were now being interrogated by the Aurors. There were rumors of Unspeakables involved, but no one was talking. Not everything was as it seemed.

--

Water pooled around a pair of black leather boots. The rain fell fast stinging against his face. He forced his breathing to remain slow and even as he trudged along the ever rising water. The streets were empty, the windows boarded up. The trees bowed to the mighty wind. It was one of the worst storms Alec McFarlin had ever been through. Even in his training, he had experiences all sorts of weather, from blizzards to searing heat waves. However, nothing was quite as bad as the hurricane. He had a job to do and he was going to get it done, bad weather or not. Alec fruitlessly wiped the water from his eyes, brushing his rain soaked hair from his eyes.

It was mid-day yet it was dark as the night sky. The lights were out in the city leaving Alec cloaked in the darkness. The high winds made it more difficult to move from building to building. Each crossing was its own personal wind gust trap of hell. _Fuck._

His gloved hands grasped the streetlamp pole, swearing out loud as the storm attempted to carry him away. He struggled to return his feet back to solid ground. Without warning, the wind, the rain, it all just stopped. Alec hit the cement with a grunt. He looked up at the light blue sky. He jumped to his feet, dashing across the streets as fast has his water heavy boots would take him. Skidding to a halt, Alec grabbed his wand, pointing it to a locked door. A burst of energy erupted from the tip of the wand, causing the door to fly open.

Alec slammed the door behind him, feeling he had only made it just in time as the rain hit with twice the intensity as before. A small light brightened the dark room and a sharp blade traced his chin.

"Is this how you greet your fearless leader?" Alec spoke casually through his thick accent.

"You're late." A young feminine voice drifted through the room.

"I'll file a complaint with the category five outside." The Scotsman replied drolly. "What's the report?"

He immediately went back into soldier mode, brushing past the woman with the knife. Alec was now facing a wall covered in maps and newspaper clippings. His finger moved swiftly over the moving names on the map, looking for one in particular.

"There's still no sign of him, sir. The others are still out on patrols. Team three should be returning once the storm has passed. Did you find out anything?"

"Some of the ministry officials are keeping quiet. I don' think they got him, though." Alec turned his back to the map, facing the dark haired woman again. "Keep watch, I'm going to change clothes."

"I can't come?" she asked with a playful smile.

Alec quirked an eyebrow at her question. "Don' make such a tempting offer, Jade." Alec moved close to the woman, brushing his wet glove against her face.

Before she could respond, Alec had turned and headed up the stairs.

--

Jade sat on the edge of the desk, shuffling through the parchment papers, each had a name and picture of every Auror that belonged to the British and American Ministries under suspicion. She looked through each of the faces, but stopped on one. Her breath caught in her throat. She only started breathing again when the sounds of footsteps on the wooden stairs caught her attention.

Alec came into view as he came down from the second floor, still adjusting his dry shirt over his pants.

"Why is your cousin's file here?" She asked, holding out the file. "He's only a kid, how could he possibly be involved?"

"Everyone that was involved with the incident in London is under suspicion, Jade… even Adam." Alec ignored the file and walked back over to the wall. "I want to know exactly what happened and why… I'm not leaving any stones unturned."

"Is Iric and James under suspicion too?" Jade threw the papers on the desk.

"Yes."

"Am I?"

"Yes."

His face was cold, staring deep into her eyes. She was hurt, but she understood. Alec could not trust anyone at this point. There was too much at stake to not look at everyone. The fact half his crew was out of contact for nearly a week after the London incident made things so much harder on Alec. It was then she knew his fears. Someone has decided to go against the whole.

--

_What did she expect?_ The one person he had trusted… everyone had trusted had betrayed him. Everything had changed. Not even his own little cousin could be excluded in this. Young, Adam may be, but he was still involved. A young recruit, caught up in a battle he was not trained for. That's how his team saw Adam. Young, naïve, someone who was an innocent in this, but Alec could not stop and leave it at that, he needed hard proof Adam wasn't directly involved. Adam was still being questioned by the Ministry. On top of this, Alec could not help but think one of his own team members could be working against them. Jade, she was so strong, and passionate. She was loyal to Alec; she stayed by his side through the hardest months of his life. However, this did not give her immunity. Iric and James were nowhere to be found for weeks. All it took was one word from the ministry if they ever found out about them and Tartarus Sect would be hunted down.

At this time he had his group split up in to groups. Iric was with Masques and Philds. James was with Krys and Felix. Alec was sure the others were not involved; he had alibis for each of them.

It was a big risk letting Jade know who was under suspicion; however it may work to his advantage. Alec appraised her carefully, watching her movements. She played cards well, but Alec knew her tell. He was unable to find any lies beneath her eyes. He dropped his gaze and went over to his desk and began rummaging through his reports. Jade went back to hers and sat down with out another word.

"Do you have the dossier on Wilkins?" Alec broke the silence without looking up.

"Yes." Jade replied shortly pushing the file to the edge of her desk.

Alec did not get up to retrieve it.


	2. Under Suspicion

_People were running in all different directions. They were frantic, scared. A tall dark haired man was running toward the sound of explosions. Four men behind him were on his heels. As the approached the building, a younger man, dressed in robes emerged from the building, coughing, his face covered in soot. The tall dark haired man grabbed the boy by the arm, forcing him up straight. _

"_Adam, what the fuck are you doin' here?" He shouted angrily._

_Fear and disbelief raged through Alec when he saw his cousin stumble out of the building. The other half of his team were no where to be found. Jade missed her rendezvous point and was now MIA. The team gathering intelligence were not at their posts. Alec did not like this one bit._

"_Alec?" Adam sounded shocked. He stared up at the man, their matching blue eyes met. _

"_Answer my question." Alec glowered._

"_I… I was escorting Arnold Trist to the ministry with four other Aurors. When we went up to get him from his apartment, but there were people there—"_

"_Do you know who they were?" Alec asked before Adam could continue._

_Adam shook his head still coughing up the smoke from his lungs. "Some guy seemed to be arguin' with the others, his buddy called him Andre, I think. He and his buddy got out of there just before the fire started. I'm sorry, cousin, that's all I know."_

_Andre was missing so was James and Iric. What happened? Was his team's position compromised? Why was he there? Alec's mind swam with questions. He forced himself to focus on the situation at hand. _

"_What happened to the other Aurors?" a gruff voice sounded behind Alec._

"_I managed to get Reese and McKay free but they were caught in the cross fire when we were tryin' to get to Merik and Fritz. Merik and Fritz were killed when the first explosion happened." His voice seemed to drop a bit lower while trying to retain his emotions. _

"_Adam, listen to me very closely." Alec interrupted, leaning very close to his cousin. "Do not repeat any of this to your superiors about Andre or any of us bein' here. Not one word. Everythin' is going to be fine, I promise you."_

"_What's this about, Alec?" Adam took a step back to look at his cousin._

"_One day, Adam, I promise I will tell you." Alec pulled his younger cousin into a tight embrace before quickly letting him go._

_Alec nodded to the others and they began to fall back into the crowds, disappearing like ghosts. Alec turned back to his cousin, glancing over his shoulder. He could see the black cloaks of the Enforcement Squad sneaking into the building, getting rid of the evidence of magic used at the crime scene. Alec looked back at his cousin. _

"_Head over to the ministry, before the muggle police department get here. Go straight to Ravenor and tell him what happened, but remember don' say a word about Andre or us bein' here."_

"_But cousin, he's the head of Aurors, isn' this his jurisdiction?"_

"_No, it isn'. Promise me, Adam."_

"_Not a word, Alec. I promise."_

--

The door swung open. Three very tired looking men trudged in dropping their gear by the door. One of the men stopped to pick up the gear, tossing them over his shoulder as he grunted something in a foreign language.

Upstairs he trudged loudly through the rooms toward the back. Stacks of boxes lined the walls, the only light came through the thin cracks from the floorboards. Off in the corner lying across a makeshift cot was a pair of legs hanging off the side.

"Sorry, Sir… I didn't see you there."

"Don' worry about, Krys." Alec grunted as he sat up, shoving aside the box he was using as a pillow.

"You know, there are beds here, Aeacus." Krys commented as he shoved the packs under the only empty space on the shelves.

"Yes, there are."

Alec was already on his feet, crossing the room. While there were very comfortable beds to sleep in, Alec preferred to sleep in the back storage room when he had a lot on his mind. It just happened to be every night. He stopped at the door, glancing over at the man next to him. Kyrs was no taller than Alec. Krys wore his hair long, tied back to keep his dark hair out of his face on missions.

"Anythin' worth mentionin'?" Alec asked casually, keeping eye contract.

"Nope."

"Good."

--

Deep with in the ministry's walls, the lowest floors, beneath the Department of Mysteries, were the holding cells. Those cells were normally kept for those about to be put on trial… or for those prisoners selected by the Head of Mysteries for their 'experiments'.

Off in the far corner of the cells, the Head of Aurors sat on the outside of one cell in particular. He sat in the old wooden chair brought by one of the guards. Nearly every day for the past two months Alaric Ravenor came down to the cells and sat across from Adam McFarlin. Whether he hoped Adam would give in and tell him what really happened the day of the London incident or not was no longer the issue. Alaric wanted to know, he felt he needed to know. However, Adam refused to comply.

"Adam, I don't want to keep you in here, you are a promising young initiate." Alaric began. "I know you know more than you've been telling me, that is why you are in here. I have reports from your fellow Aurors that you were seen talking to a group of people outside the apartments after the attack…"

"I told you everythin' I know, Sir." Adam's weary voice drifted from the back of the cell. The light from the near by torch illuminated only his legs leaving the rest of him hidden in the darkness of the cell.

"You and I both know that's not true. How much longer are we going to have to play this game?"

"Until you realize I know nothing else."

"Excluding you, there were eighteen people were in that building, Adam, only twelve bodies were found, four of them were injured and only bystanders, what happened to the other two?" Alaric's patience was wavering.

"There were no other two—"

"Bullshit!"

Adam stood up slowly from the floor. His clothes were filthy, his hands and face covered in dirt. Adam's hair had grown a few inches, it looked oily and untamed. His icy blue eyes met Alaric's gaze. Adam gripped the bars of his cell.

"I've told you everythin' I know, Sir. If that isn' good enough then hurry up and send me to Azkaban!" Adam growled, as he glared at his superior.

"You've got some guts, kid." Alaric smirked as he stood from the wooden chair. "You might make one hell of an Auror, but until I believe you or you tell me the truth, you're not leaving this cell."

After Alaric was gone, Adam slid back down to his spot on the floor. Why had Alec not come yet? What was so damn important about this Andre guy that Alec felt he was worth risking his own family to protect? Adam had begun to question his cousin's loyalty but he quickly dismissed the thought. He knew his cousin. He had faith everything would be fine in the end… Alec had promised him.


	3. The Lion's Den

The water trickled down from the leaky ceiling. There was little movement around the darkened room. A cold draft continued to plague Andre but he did nothing to get warm. He remained seated on a spindly kitchen chair, his pale blue staring out the tiny window above the sink. His thoughts drifted in and out, every once in a while something would draw his attention back to his current surroundings.

"Oh, please would you stop moping around, Andre," a soft feminine voice purred from the doorway. Andre jumped from his chair, his wand in hand ready for attack. However, he soon lowered his arm as he saw the thin red head saunter over towards him. "You're such a bore, you know that? What were you thinking about this time?"

"Not that it's any of your business, Dreama," Andre grumbled as he moved to sit back down, running his hand through his blonde hair, brushing away strands from his eyes. "… I was thinking of Alec."

"Ah, yes. The young rogue that rescued you in the Congo. You, war worn commander about to get your head severed from your neck, he the dashing young Auror jumps out to save the captured commander…" The red head spoke in an over dramatic tone. "Yes, I've read all about your little escapade there. What got you caught by some witch doctor with a few surprises?"

"As a matter of fact, no." He sneered, feeling even more irritated by her very presence. "There were dark wizards too."

"So what were _you_ doing there?"

"Looking for the witch doctor." With that Dreama barked with laughter.

"I'm so glad you find me so amusing." Andre rolled his eyes and stood from his chair, walking over to the counter. He placed his palms on either side of him, as he leaned back. "Is there some point to this visit or are you just hear to mock me?"

"The Master wants to know what reports you have from your inside man." The redhead managed to say through her fit of laugher. She continued to struggle with her composure but soon stopped laughing to allow Andre to give his report.

"McFarlin's been at the Ministry lately, he's been rummaging through my old records along with Irsha's. He's getting too close." Andre added wearily. "She needs to be warned that Alec is looking into her past. If he figures out we knew each other, her cover will be blown."

"Calm down, Andre. You worry too much. The Master will handle this. For now, you will meet up with Irsha as planned." Dreama then turned and with a loud pop, she was gone.

--

The Auror's office was unusually busy. Alec figured it was probably due to the new overload cases coming in. It was odd for the sudden spike in dark wizard activity. Something was stirring the hive.

People scrambled through the narrow halls. Alec walked by Head of Auror's office, making the mistake by glancing inside briefly. The young auror commander called to him. Reluctantly, Alec turned and stepped into the office, the door closed behind him with a loud clunk. Alaric's cousin stood behind his chair, reading over something on the desk. Valius Ravenor, a well known auror who was in charge of the first company, rumored to be in charge of some secret elite group of aurors. However, Alec knew this to be more than a rumor. He would not be doing his job if he did not know these kinds of things. Alec was fully aware of each of these men's activities, though not all the time.

He knew he had to watch himself around Valius. Alec knew he had a more violent temper than his younger cousin. It was probably the reason Alaric was in charge of the aurors and not Valius.

"Is there something I can do for you, sir?" Alec asked impassively, as he stood at attention.

"It has come to my attention that you have been poking around in some of the archives," Alaric flung a manila folder towards Alec. Then continued as Alec made to catch it. "Specifically, those concerning the Department of Mysteries and a former auror's death records. Mind telling us what you're up to?"

Alec did not bother opening the file as he watched Alaric and Valius, knowing they were waiting for his reaction to their knowledge. However he stayed calm, and expressionless. He merely stared back at the pair before answering, choosing his words carefully.

"Just some research, sir. Nothing of consequence." It was a lie and he hoped Valius had not picked up on that. Alec found everything he needed to take him to his next destination. He was meant to be heading there now, however this slight detour he hoped wouldn't take long.

Valius shifted behind Alaric's chair, his face remained expressionless as Alec's. None of them responded, as Alec placed the folder back on the desk.

"I see you have no interest on the information we gathered from your cousin." Alaric commented as he assessed Alec's reaction. Alec looked down at the file, his name clearly labeled across it. Alec frowned.

"My cousin doesn' know anythin', Raven… Sir." Alec paused. He was falling into an obvious trap. What did they know? It could not be much otherwise they would have arrested him already. Attack first ask questions later. If they had anything implicating on him, he would not be standing here right now. "If you and your lackey cousin are done analyzing me, I have work I need to finish… in Bermuda." He added bitterly.

"Watch who you're calling lackey, McFarlin" Valius growled.

"Would you prefer _puppet_?" Alec snapped, making the mistake of annoying the commander. Before he realized, Valius had rounded desk, gripping a fist full of Alec's robes, shoving him against the wall. Alec's head slammed against the door, causing a few lower murmurs from the other side. The men stared each other down. Neither made another move beyond that.

"That's enough, Valius." Alaric's voice broke the silence. "Remember that you are Commander in my division and you will hold the utmost respect."

Alec was not sure but he had the feeling Alaric was on his feet and probably not as shocked as he was by Valius Ravenor's reaction. Alec knew he had pushed the limit by insulting his superiors, however, he would not admit that.

"Shove it, Alaric." Valius snarled, his grip tightened as Alec glared back at him.

"Valius!"

With low frustrated growl, Valius released Alec, taking a step back. He did not look happy that his cousin prevented him from pulverizing Alec on the spot.

"McFarlin, these kinds of things which keeps you from rising in the ranks." Alaric remarked as he made to stand next to Valius. "You will remember your place; now get out of here before I decide to strip you of what little rank you have."

"Gladly." Alec glowered.

Before another word could be uttered, Alec turned to fling the door open, slamming it behind him. Valius released his clinched fist. He flexed his gloved fingers trying to get rid of some of the tension.

"He was lying, Alaric. He knows more than he's telling… he was worried for a second there when you mentioned Adam." He noted as soon as Alec was gone. "Do you think the younger McFarlin really knows anything else?"

"No, I don't. However, keep him in confinement. Alec is up to something and I want to know what." Alaric turned back to his desk, picking up the file, pulling the several blank pages from file. "Find someone you trust explicitly, see if you can get a little reconnaissance on Alec. I want to know where he is at all times. Got it?"

Valius simply nodded in understanding before leaving the office.


	4. Shadowed

_**Sorry it took me SO LONG to finally get you guys and update. But I'm sure you all know how life can beat the snot out of you at times. Well, here's the new chapter! Hope you all enjoy! :3**_

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It did not take long for Alec to return to the Tartarus Headquarters. The moment he stepped through the doors, he was accosted by his team members. No one had actually spoken yet, but they all followed their leader into the offices while he settled down behind his desk. Jade standing in front of the others, looked pointedly at the Scotsman, waiting for answers. A small sigh escaped Alec's lips before he began to speak. "There's an old Mayan burial site in Mexico I want us all to check out." He said, propping his elbows on the desk, using his hands as a support for his chin. "We'll split up into groups. Jade, Krys, and James, I want you to go check it out. Masques, Phelds and Felix, there is an abandoned warehouse five miles south of the burial site. There have been muggle reports of unusual activity in the area as well as talk of people wandering aimlessly in the mountains. Could be dark wizard activity, could be ministry activity, find out which and report back to me."

Shifting in the back Iric cleared his throat. "Iric, you're with me," is all Alec had said before he started to open up a few folders on his desk.

"And are you going to tell me what you and I are doing… sir?" the young man tried to mask his annoyance at Alec's sudden vagueness with him.

"I'm bein' followed. You and I are going to distract whoever it is while the others slip out tonight." Alec responded without looking up from his files.

Satisfied with Alec's answer, Iric turned and left with the others following suit, except Jade. Once the rest of the team left the room, Jade moved around Alec's desk, purposefully sitting in front of him on the wooden surface, blocking his access to the files he had been trying to read. Stopping, Alec leaned back in his chair and looked up at Jade's dark brown eyes. "What?" he had asked, though he had a feeling he knew what she wanted.

"You don't seem too concerned with someone following you to headquarters, Alec." The brunette commented, pulling the parchment papers out of Alec's hand and placing them next to where she sat. "Someone you know?"

"Maybe. I was stopped by Ravenor on my way out of the Auror offices." Alec looked away from Jade. "It's either his cousin Valius, or one of the members from his elite squad though I doubt Valius would actually make this visit himself."

Quirking an eyebrow, Jade stared down at the man in front of her. "And you're not concerned? What if it's your sister? Isn't she one of Ravenor's lackeys?"

"Either way it is no concern of yours." Alec was testing Jade's patience with this and he could tell but she was testing his as well. His tone was falling short from his cool manner within seconds of his sister being mentioned.

"No concern of mine?!" She exclaimed, folding her arms across her chest. "They could blow our cover or do you not care about our team anymore?"

"Jade." His voice was quiet as he spoke her name. Alec kept his eyes averted from hers for a moment before returning a harsh glare. "Whoever it is, Iric and I will take care of it." he said nonchalantly, reaching forward to pick up his papers again, but Jade placed her hand over them, preventing Alec from just dismissing her. Standing from his chair, Alec leaned forward, mere inches from Jade. "I won't let some little piss ant Auror wannabe spy infiltrate HQ."

"You've done a wonderful job of preventing that so far." Jade replied bitterly. "Sorry if I seem skeptical."

"If you're done ridiculing me, then you should go prepare for the mission. The team is to move out in one hour." With that Alec tugged at the papers from underneath Jade's hand and sat back down in his seat without looking at the woman in front of him again. Jade only glowered down at her commander but Alec refused to meet her gaze once more. Whether or not he if he had reservations about being followed this was one thing he would never let on in front of Jade or any of his team members.

With a huff Jade turned on her heels and slammed the door behind her, leaving Alec alone in silence. He let out a small sigh as he removed a small medallion from around his neck, a visible 'TS' was inscribed in its center. He carefully placed it back beneath his collar and went back to his work.

--

Alec had been the first to leave. He could already tell he was being followed and it wasn't Iric. He still was not sure whom exactly it was that was tailing him, but for the safety of his team and their mission, he had to lead whoever it was as far away from HQ as possible. Alec walked along the streets, taking a turn every once a in a while, heading farther away from Tartarus as possible. He was certain that his team had already left a while ago, but he was not yet ready in the position he wanted to be to ambush his little stalker. The medallion which hung around his neck began to vibrate. He looked down at his chest, and saw beneath his clothing the thing began to glow a low tinge of green. It was at that point, Alec stepped quickly down a dark alley, hiding himself in the shadows.

A moment later, he saw a figure appear. Alec could hardly hear their footsteps. They were good at what they did, but Alec and his team was better. They were the trackers, and very rarely was it ever the other way around. Getting lost was an easy feat for anyone in Tartarus Sect. The medallion had stopped glowing a few seconds ago, and it was not before long when Alec saw Iric up on the rooftops, waiting for his signal.

Carefully, Alec pulled out his wand and tapped the wall behind him. Several archaic symbols began to glow very brightly, casting a blue light across the alleyway. Iric jumped down from the rooftop, tackling the figure from behind. Alec had jumped out of his hiding spot, his wand pointed at what he could now see was a young woman. The woman threw her elbow back, catching Iric in the face. Iric fell backwards as he heard a loud crunch followed by intense pain from his nose. Blood began to flow freely down his face and the woman jumped to her feet, now facing Alec, and her own wand out and ready to use it. "I thought it might be you, little sister." Alec merely stated.

"I guess I'm needing more practice in tracking." She said, stuffing her wand back into her robes. "Hey, Alec… long time to see. Who's your friend?"

Iric glowered at the woman, as he scrambled to locate his wand in order to fix his nose, all the while, grousing under his breath.

"Amelia, do me a favor and stop following me." Alec kept discussion off Iric, as technically he was meant to be dead according to any official records. "I know you have your orders to keep an eye on me, but it's best for everyone if you and the Ravenors stay out of this one."

"What exactly are you up to, big brother?" Amelia eyed him curiously.

"Something I'd rather not have the entire Auror squad knowing about… they have a tendency to ruin things."

"You think I'll ruin your fun?" She asked coyly.

"Not you and your squad, but I think you more than anyone knows how far corruption can go." He replied.

"Alec, I don't want you to get hurt or worse… die." Amelia took a step towards her brother. "Alaric is talking about putting you in confinement with our cousin. "

"Ravenor has nothing on me—"

"He doesn't need an excuse to lock you up, Alec." Amelia had cut him off.

Iric had stood up behind Amelia, wiping the blood off his face. "Commander, I'm going to go scout the general area… this looks more like family problems and I'm in no mood to get involved in that shit."

Alec simply nodded and Iric disappeared back around the corner. "Amelia, I know you trust the Ravenors, and so far I have no reason to distrust them either. But there are just some things that are better left behind the curtain. Can you promise me you won't breath a word of what happened tonight to Valius or Alaric?" Alec had taken a step closer to Amelia, his hand grazed her shoulder. "Please?"

"I'm sorry, Alec. I know you're my brother, but I have a duty to my squad and Valius." She stopped for a second before continuing. "I don't know what you are involved in, but I can give you one hour to get out of here before I report this."

"I suppose that's the best I'm going to get… thank you, Amelia" Alec brushed a lock of hair from Amelia's eyes. He raised his wand making a swishing downward motion and the lights quickly faded.

Taking a step back, Amelia smiled at her brother one last time before disappearing, leaving Alec alone in the ally. He then pulled out the small medallion from around his neck, running his thumb across the lettering. As it started to glow red, Alec spoke. "Iric, I need you to head back over HQ, torch the place; we're moving on to Evac II."

"Copy that, commander; I'll meet up with you in Mexico then?" Iric's muffled voice came out of the metal engraving.

"No, go ahead to the new base. I need someone to remove the wards from the outer rim. I'll contact you when we're done."


End file.
